In connection with two tribal women being paraded naked in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district in May, which sparked a national outcry after a video of the incident went viral two months later, the CBI on Monday filed a chargesheet against six persons and a minor.
Nearly three months after Manipur Police made the arrests in the case, the agency filed the chargesheet against six people and a complaint against one kid in violation of the law before a special CBI court in Guwahati.
It was claimed that on May 4, 2023, a mob of between 900 and 1,000 people, equipped with sophisticated weapons, broke into the village of B Phainom in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district, plundered homes, attacked residents, killed people, and sexually abused women.
Following significant outcry in the nation and abroad in response to a video showing the ladies being paraded in their underwear, the Supreme Court intervened and turned the issue over to the CBI.
Two further family members of one of the ladies who was displayed naked were also allegedly killed in the incident.
Huirum Herodas and others were charged on Monday after the CBI probe revealed that the accused arrested by the Manipur Police were involved in that incident.
Along with other components of the case, more investigation is still being conducted, including the identification of additional accused who were involved in the offenses.
According to the CBI, the suspects have been charged with crimes related to gangrape, murder, insulting a woman’s modesty, and criminal conspiracy, among other sections of the Indian Penal Code.
In response to the video, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that the two ladies being shown in the naked state had humiliated 140 crore Indians and vowed that the law would act with all of its power and no one would be spared.
In response to accusations from opposition parties for remaining silent about the ethnic violence in the BJP-ruled state, he told reporters at the Parliament complex, ‘Today, when I am standing by this temple of democracy, my heart is full of pain and anger.’
‘I want to assure the people of the country that no guilty will be spared. The law will act with its full might and firmness… What has happened to these daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven,’ he said.
Political leaders from all parties condemned the incident, which also shook Parliament’s Monsoon session, and the video served as a symbol of the division between the dominant Meitei community and the Kuki indigenous tribe. The video first appeared the night before the Parliament’s Monsoon session.
Post Your Comments